corrente

Monday, May 09, 2005

Taking Dictation Once Again

BAGHDAD, May 8 -- Senior U.S. commanders say their view of the Iraqi insurgency has begun to shift, with higher priority being given to combating foreign fighters and Iraqi jihadists.

This shift comes in response to the recent upsurge in suicide attacks and other developments that indicate a more prominent role in the insurgency by these radical groups, the commanders say.

Previously, U.S. authorities have depicted the insurgency as being dominated largely by what the Pentagon has dubbed "former regime elements" -- a combination of onetime Baath Party loyalists and Iraqi military and security service officers intent on restoring Sunni rule. But since the Jan. 30 elections, this segment of the insurgency has appeared to pull back from the fight, at least for a while, reassessing strategies and exploring a possible political deal with the new government, senior U.S. officers here say.(via the ever obedient WaPo)

How many times have we been told this? And this is just an attempt to regain their poll numbers after none other than General Myers said the insurgency had lost no strength in the last year. Remember that? It was only a couple of weeks ago, folks.

This whole thing reminds me of two things. First, this is what people were told was going on in South Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. "It isn't the local folks, it's outside insurgents causing all of these problems." Right.

This also reminds me, frighteningly so, of what white southerners said during the Civil Rights Movement. "Oh, now our black folks wouldn't feel that way. It's these 'outside agitators' that are causing all the trouble.'" Right.

Can our press really get rolled for the umpteenth time by this "foreign insurgent outside agitator" garbage? What evidence does the military and administration present for any of this other than wishful thinking?

Even if this is true do you think it'll stop or slow down the insurgency? Of course not.

We need to face it folks. A large portion of the Iraqi people -- maybe not a majority but a large minority -- want us out of there right now and they'll do anything to make that happen.

As I suggested would be the case before, during, and after this disastrous fool's errand of a war on my old blog, we're not improving the lives of the Iraqi people one damn bit. In their eyes we've brought this chaos down upon them. Saddam was an awful thug but the standard of living for the average Iraqi was actually better before this war than after it.

Let me repeat that for my slow righty friends: life was better for the average Iraqi under Saddam than it is now. Until you figure out how to fix that rather large problem the insurgency is going to grow stronger and stronger day by day.

And since the Iraq reconstruction effort is just an enormous feeding trough for the GOP-contributing Halliburtons of the world, don't expect life in Iraq to improve anytime soon.